Following the Global Settlement, analysts extensively use a top pick designation to highlight their highest conviction best ideas. Such a designation enables analysts to provide greater granularity of information, but it can potentially be influenced by conflicts of interest. Examining a...

Quantitative research analysts (Quants) produce in-depth quantitative and econometric modeling of market anomalies to assist sell-side analysts and institutional clients with stock selection strategies. Quants are associated with more efficient analyst forecasting behavior on anomaly predictors...

Measuring the information environment of firms using analyst (price) forecast bias and forecast dispersion before listing, we empirically examine the interactive influence of the information environment and market-wide sentiment on the initial returns of initial public offerings (IPOs). We find...

We constructed forecasts of earnings forecasts using data on 406 firms and forecasts made by 5419 individuals with on average 25 forecasts per individual. We verified previously found predictors, which are the average of the most recent available forecast for each forecaster and the difference...

Large earnings surprises and negative earnings surprises represent more egregious errors in analysts' earnings forecasts. We find evidence consistent with our expectation that egregious forecast errors motivate analysts to work harder to develop or acquire relatively more private information in...

This paper analyzes the distribution of stock ratings at investment banks and brokerage firms and examines whether these distributions can be used to predict the profitability of analysts' recommendations. Consistent with prior work, we find that the percentage of buy recommendations increased...

In this paper, we examine analyst annual earnings forecast accuracy and dispersion for firms undertaking SEOs. Specifically, we evaluate the difference in accuracy between new and old affiliate analysts when there is a change in the lead underwriter for the SEO. We also study the change of...

We examine the information transmission role of stock recommendation revisions by sell-side security analysts. Revisions are associated with economically insignificant mean price reactions and often piggyback on recent news, events, long-term momentum, and short-run contrarian return predictors,...

On September 20, 2016, the Japan Securities Dealers Association implemented guidelines that prohibited securities sell-side analysts to obtain an earnings preview before the earnings' official release. We examine the unique impact of the guidelines on market behavior and analyst forecasts in the...

This paper examines the role of sophisticated investors in pricing future earnings. Using the future earnings response coefficient (FERC) model recently developed by Ettredge et al. (2005), we test the effect of analyst following and institutional ownership on the informativeness of stock...